Using Twitter

Twitter is a micro-communication tool for sending people 140-character messages – called tweets – to

their followers. Anyone can create a Twitter account to send tweets, receive them and follow other

Twitter feeds.

Topics in this document:

How to create an account

Taking part in social media networks

o Following the EAC Conference

o Following an individual

o Sending tweets

How to create an account

Go to www.twitter.com.

Fill out the ‘Join today’ information: Name, email address and a password. Click ‘Sign up’. The

next page will present you with name, email, password and username entries.

Change your ‘username’ from the default (your name) if you would like. The username will

appear as your twitter account name, such as @eacconference or @eac_acr. Depending on a

number of factors including your privacy, type of business and personality, you might want to

choose a nickname that is different from your own name. For example, writer Brian Clark goes

by the handle @copyblogger whereas writer Bret Easton Ellis is simply @breteastonellis.

If there is a red cross next to any of the items, follow the instructions that appear until it’s

corrected. (E.g. The message “Username has already been taken” means you need to choose

another one.)

When all is green, click ‘Create my account’. Your account is now created.

Note: To change any settings at any time, look to the top right-hand corner of the browser

screen for to the drop-down menu where your username is visible, and select ‘Settings’. Here

you can change your username (Account tab) or password (Password), define whether you’re

emailed when you get a new follower or direct message (Notifications), add a picture and

information about yourself (Profile), or change the background of your twitter page (Design).

Taking part in social media networks

Tweets are generally informal, although of course the tone can vary. Use a proper tone if responding to

an employment opportunity from a peer, but be casual if discussing a movie with the same person.

Following the EAC Conference tweets:

Click on ‘Home’ at the top of the window (next to ‘Profile’, ‘Messages’ and ‘Who to Follow’).

In the search bar, type @eacconference, and press Return. The resulting page will show the

twitter accounts that match your search phrase on the right. Click on the @eacconference listing

to see the EAC Conference profile page where you can see all the recently published tweets.

Click ‘Follow’.

Click ‘Home’ at the top of the screen and you will see all the @eacconference tweets listed.

Click on one of the tweets. You will see it appear on the right in large font, with all the people

involved in that tweet listed underneath.

In the tweet you selected, you might notice that certain terms are highlighted as clickable:

o Twitter names beginning with ‘@’. A tweet might mention @eac_acr for example, which

is the EAC national branch twitter account. Click on the @eac_acr link and you will see

its published tweets.

o Words and phrases starting with ‘#’ and URLs. If you click terms with a hashtag like

#speedmentoring or #EAC2011, a list of all the tweets that use those expressions

appears. Think of the hashtag as a label or a hook to hang related information – any

tweets about speed mentoring can be “tagged” in this manner. The hashtag groups the

tweet with others that bear a relation, facilitating timely and prominent search results.

Following an individual:

On the landing page for a Twitter account, such as the EAC Conference profile page

(www.twitter.com/eacconference), click on one of the usernames. Are they saying anything

interesting? If so, click ‘Follow’.

Now this person’s tweets will appear when you click ‘Home’ at the top of that window. (If not,

just hit Refresh in your browser.)

Sending tweets:

Your username and profile information may get you followers before you’ve even tweeted. You

will know you have a follower because a number appears on your landing page next to

‘Followers’. There is a corresponding counter for who you are following.

To send your first tweet, type in the ‘What’s happening?’ tweet-box and then click ‘Tweet’.

As you start to tweet, people will come across you via searching and browsing, just as you came

across your second person to follow via the EAC Conference feed. Over time, more people will

start to follow you and tune in to your tweets. The more people you mention and conversations

you engage in, then the more exposure you will get and hence more followers.

There is also the notion of “retweeting” what someone else has tweeted. To do so, when you

see a tweet that you like, let the cursor hover over it to display a small ‘Retweet’ button. Click

this button to send out the same tweet to your followers.

‘Direct messaging’ is sending a tweet to one person, so no one else will see it. You must be

following each other and it can be done by clicking the ‘Message’ button on a person’s profile.

Keep your followers interested by tweeting regularly on topical points – they can ‘unfollow’ too.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask Wael Elazab via @waelae (on Twitter ;-)